Make way Captain Marvel and Spider-Gwen, Marvel has issued a new female-led comic series that is blowing superhero stereotypes out of the water: Miss America. First introduced in 1944, Miss America was Marvel’s answer to DC’s Wonder Woman; a post-World War II heroine that promoted the readership of young females. However, in 2011, Miss America went under a massive restructuring as comic book writers, Joe Casey and Nick Dragotta, implemented the decision to introduce a new iteration of the character, one who would be classified as Latin American and LGBTQ. Building upon her popularity, Marvel made the executive decision this March to give Miss America her own series rather than simply keeping her a Young Avengers member, making her the first Latin American superhero with their own series as well as the first ever Latin American LGBTQ superhero.
As unanimous Marvel fans, we couldn’t be more ecstatic over the introduction of Miss America’s new persona to the Marvel universe. Though we have seen the introduction of the likes of Riri Williams, the black female Iron Man and Jane Foster, Thor’s romantic interest, take over as the Asgardian within the past two years, there is something about Miss Marvel that makes the character unique amongst her counterparts.
We attribute this to the fact that Gabby Rivera, who identifies as Latin American and as a lesbian herself, took on the primary writing role of the latest series, another first for Marvel according to CNN. While many comic book fans don’t necessarily look at the writer as the sole reason for purchasing a new issue, the case here is the opposite as Rivera’s life mirrors that of her superhero counterpart, only adding a new layer of depth to an already engaging premise.
With the nation now under constant turmoil with the new Trump administration, Marvel checkmates the discriminatory ideology surrounding his presidency by broadening the scope of what it exactly means to be a hero. For Marvel, Rivera and Miss America, a new line has been drawn on the horizon to exactly how far one’s dreams can go, whether you’re an American or simply a comic book fan in general.
So if you find yourself browsing your local comic book shop for the next best series or simply just looking for something to read, Miss America will destroy all your expectations of Latin American and LGBTQ heroes. Hell, maybe even superheroes as a whole.
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